When is it a good time to transplant this keiki?

[Noel]

Hi guys!

I need some friendly advice. I've had this purple flowering phal for almost 2 years now as a gift from a friend. It has been quite a prolific flowerer in the time I have had it. It sits on a north facing windowsill and is quite healthy. I water it once a week and as it has been a warm summer, I have been giving it weak solution of orchid feed once every two weeks or so.

It sent out two keikis last year on two spent flowering spikes, one of which I have transplanted to a new pot as it had large enough roots. The other keiki was more complicated. I left it on the parent plant as it had no roots and I waited... and waited..

I then decided to repot the whole plant as it was beginning to topple over in the smaller pot. Anyway, a couple of weeks later, The the keiki sent out a flowering spike with 7 blooms on it. As it did so, it began to push out roots.
Orchid1.jpg What the whole plant looks like now
I've put bluetac on the flower stakes after I almost impaled my face against one of them while reaching over to shut the window

The blooms are now about 3 weeks old, the keiki is still healthy and the parent is still looking ok, although the older leaves are starting to feel less firm.
Orchid3.jpg the flowering keiki
Orchid2.jpg the parent plant still looking ok.

On top of this, the parent plant has started to bud a spike on the flowering spike where I removed the first keiki.
Orchid4.jpg the bud spike?

So the question is:
Do I leave the keiki after it finishes flowering and then transplant or can I risk it and transplant the keiki now while it is still blooming?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Noel

[orchids4me]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
I'd wait until the blooms are spent to cut and transplant if transplanting is what you choose to do with it. Just remember to put some powdered cinnamon on the parts you had cut and use a sterile cutting implement.
Emmaye

[syndywindy]

Hi, welcome to the forum. It almost appears to me like maybe the keiki plant is zapping a lot out of the parent plant. I would cut the keiki plant and get it potted up and then I also would cut the spike down on the mother plant. Have you checked the roots of the mother plant. Are they ok? Sometimes you just have to forsake spikes and/or blooms for the health of the plant.

[Noel]

Thanks for the replies and the welcome!

I had a look at the roots and from what I see from the transparent pot, some of the roots are green and others are silvery. They don't look wrinkly and are not pot bound.

I am tempted to leave the keiki on until the blooms are spent. However I do have concerns about zapping energy from the mother. If I do cut the keiki off the mother, would the keiki on its own have enough energy to sustain the blooms?

In the meantime, I''ll be on observation duties.


Noel

[mayres]

I realize you would be forsaking your gorgeous blooms, but my vote is with Synda - I'd remove everything and focus on building up all plants for the next bloom cycle - if not right away, at least in the near future.....

[Phalcycle]

I agree, I think saving the plant itself with more important than just one bloom cycle.
The plants will produce more blooms, as long as they are healthy.
I would cut the spike, and enjoy in a vase of water, and pot the keiki up, and allow the mother plant to grow

[Noel]

Hi all!

Thanks for the tips. I was very reluctant to cut the bloom spike off the keiki, but weighing up the pros which you all offered.. I did it and potted up the keiki, cut the bloom spike on the parent plant but left the other one alone.

Now to see if the keiki survives the transplant!

Thanks again!

Noel